One of the most established and long standing producers of classic motorcycles is BSA Motorcycles. Though Birmingham Small Arms put out weapons, automobiles, and airplanes, a larger part of the company was devoted to motorcycles. Originally established 1861, the beginning of the motorcycle division would not come up until nineteen years later. Headquartered in Birmingham, England, in an area known as the Gun Quarter, BSA Motorcycles was once the world’s foremost motorcycle producer, with classic bikes as renowned and sought after as vintage Harley Davidsons, and Triumph, which would later buy a up BSA.
BSA Motorcycles are by no means cheap motorcycles, especially with their rich involvement in world history. Being suppliers of weapons and transportation for the Allied forces, it was no surprises that the production plants would be the subject of attack for the Germans in the second world war. Over the course of the company’s history, a number of acclaimed motorcycles have come from BSA Motorcycles. Some of those well known bikes are the Gold Star, the A-Model bikes of the 50s, and the Rocket Three Triple. A-Model bikes were, at the time, reliable, cheap motorcycles, especially popular for their aesthetic simplicity, and mechanical efficiency.
Sadly, poor financial risks in costly ventures, the increasing Japanese competition, and the decreasing popularity in BSA Motorcycles’ products in favor of more powerful, streamlined superbikes eventually crushed the once formidable manufacturer. Many efforts to reinvigorate the company’s sales and status were made, though despite more modern touches and collaborations with Norton Villiers Triumph, there was no way to undo the damage. The early 1970s would mark the company’s final death throes, as BSA Motorcycles was pulled apart and eventually shut down. In the end, the last of the company’s Rocket Three Triples would roll out of the factory in 1973, marking the end of an era for a great motorcycle manufacturer.